Doing the Devil's Work

Loehfelm's third crime novel featuring the marvelously complex New Orleans police officer Maureen Coughlin (after 2013's The Devil in Her Way) is every bit as good as its standout predecessors, and provides fresh evidence that Maureen merits a long literary life. While Maureen is on routine patrol in a seedy part of town, a sickening smell leads her to the corpse of a white male with his throat slit, in a house that turns out to belong to Caleb Heath, who's the son of a major power broker. Caleb disclaims any knowledge of the dead man, whose body bears a tattoo used by neo-Nazis, and who is subsequently identified as Edgar Cooley, a federal fugitive. The investigation, which may implicate fellow cops, takes several unexpected turns, and Maureen finds herself in morally compromising positions. The often lyrical prose will remind many of the grim, hard-edged style of James Ellroy (e.g., "her empty eyes pointed up at the stars and the wide expanse of indigo sky, her mouth slightly open in surprise." Agent: Barney Karpfinger, Karpfinger Agency. (Jan.)